"Goodness, madness and bewildering urban change are among the themes of this year's longlist. In an extraordinary year for fiction the Man Booker Dozen proves the grip that the novel has on our world," said Peter Stothard, chair of judges.

"We did not set out to reject the old guard but after a year of sustained critical argument by a demanding panel of judges, the new has come powering through."

He told the BBC that the books had been read several times by the judges.

"We want people to take them away and read them on holiday," he said. "But it's more important to me that they bring them back and read them again. They shouldn't be left in the sand."

Beauman is the youngest author in this year's list, at the age of 27. The prize brings huge prestige to a writer and a boom in sales.

Last year's winner, Julian Barnes' The Sense of an Ending, sold more than 100,000 copies.